George Finch, the 19 year old running two councils, told The House magazine Restore Britain were akin to the BNP. (Alamy)

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The teenage Reform UK councillor leading Warwickshire council has claimed that a Restore Britain government would deport people “just because of their colour”.

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George Finch, the 19-year-old councillor who is currently in charge of both Warwickshire County Council and Bedworth and Nuneaton Borough Council, said in an interview with The House magazine that he would fear for Sikh and Gurkha communities in his area, who have “fought with us (Britain)” in wars, if Rupert Lowe’s party entered power.

A Restore Britain spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “Finch is talking total bullshit.”

His comments come as Restore Britain looks to challenge Reform UK’s position as the leading right-wing party in the UK.

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Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, launched the party after falling out with Farage and being removed from Reform UK following accusations of bullying that he denies. Endorsed by the controversial billionaire owner of X, Elon Musk, Restore Britain is seen as to the right of Reform, promoting policies like the mass deportation of all illegal immigrants and shutting down universities that “brainwash students into hating their own culture”.

The party showed signs of its potential electoral threat to Farage at last month’s local elections. Restore Britain won all 10 seats it contested in Great Yarmouth on 7 May, helping to deny Reform a majority.

Meanwhile, polling published ahead of this month’s crucial by-election in Makerfield suggests that Lowe’s party is eating into the Reform vote in the northwest. A Survation survey published on Thursday put Labour candidate Andy Burnham 10 per cent ahead of Reform’s Robert Kenyon (49 per cent to 39 per cent), with Restore Britain’s Rebecca Shepherd in third place on 8 per cent.

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Speaking to The House about the electoral threat posed to Reform by Restore Britain, Finch said the latter was “just a party on social media”: “What are their policies? What are their people?”

He said that several councillors whom he helped get elected for Reform have defected to Lowe’s party, claiming that they realise the sort of party they have joined and “the direction they want to go in”. 

“They just think: ‘Oh, well, I don’t like the way Reform is being done’, and you think, ‘right, okay, whatever your thought is, but why them?” said Finch.

He added: “In Bedworth, we’ve got a huge Sikh and Gurkha population that fought with us, and we take pride in celebrating them on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.

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“And the whole town comes out, and it’s great when people say, ‘I’m gonna vote Restore.’ The Sikhs and Gurkhas that fought during the war? ‘Oh, yes, we love those people. They’re great.’ Under a Restore government, they’d be gone. No excuse, no reason. Gone, just because of their colour.”

The House magazine’s full interview with George Finch will be published in print and online in June.

 

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England’s Test summer did not so much begin as detonate. Sixteen wickets, two rain breaks, one rampant seamer back from the sidelines, and a Lord’s crowd jolted awake before they had even settled into their seats — the kind of relentless cricket England at Lord’s so often produces.

By stumps, New Zealand were 61 for 6 chasing England’s 140 all out, and Ollie Robinson had rewritten the script of his own career in a single breathless over. In truth, anyone who has witnessed England at Lord’s knows how quickly things can change.

What unfolded on day one was not tidy, was not measured, and certainly was not the “smarter cricket” England have been preaching since the Ashes. It was chaotic, unpredictable, and pure Test cricket.

Robinson returns on fire at England’s Lord’s Test

Robinson hadn’t bowled a Test over since early 2024. Fitness issues, form questions, and a sense that England had moved on had left him drifting on the margins. So when Ben Stokes gave him the ball under overcast skies, Robinson responded with four wickets in six balls. A triple-wicket maiden to announce his return at Lord’s in England colours.

Devon Conway was first, pinned lbw after two jittery inside edges. Kane Williamson followed, undone by a ball that climbed and flicked to short leg. Then Rachin Ravindra, trapped by a nip-backer that straightened late. New Zealand were 2-3, Robinson was 3-0, and the game at Lord’s continued without pause.

He was not done there. Later, Daryl Mitchell shouldered arms to one that jagged back and clipped the stumps. Robinson closed the day with 4-10 from six overs a spell that reminded England exactly why they had made the right call.

Brook stood tall as Jamieson ran riot

Put in to bat, England’s innings was a familiar mix of promise and collapse. Harry Brook’s 56 was the lone act of resistance, a counterpunching half-century built on crisp timing and a little luck. He was dropped twice on his way to fifty.

Around him, wickets tumbled. Emilio Gay, on debut, struck two stylish boundaries before edging Kyle Jamieson. Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell were trapped lbw in quick succession. Joe Root nicked off. Jamie Smith misjudged a leave. Ben Stokes fell to a stunning one-handed grab from Williamson at slip.

Jamieson, playing his first Test in more than two years, was relentless. His 5-62, his sixth five-wicket haul in just 20 Tests. Absolutely shredded England’s middle order. Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke backed him up with sharp, disciplined spells.

Brook’s 10 boundaries gave England something to cling to, and a gritty last-wicket stand between Shoaib Bashir and Josh Tongue nudged the total to 140. Not enough, on most days. Luckily, this was not most days. For England at Lord’s, 140 can sometimes be made to look like a mountain.

New Zealand was feeling the heat

If England’s batting was shaky, their bowling was anything but. Gus Atkinson trapped Tom Latham lbw. Tongue, hitting the stumps for his 50th Test wicket, removed Tom Blundell. Glenn Phillips, counterattacking with 31 not out, was the only New Zealander to look remotely settled.

The day belonged to Robinson. Every ball he bowled carried menace, the wickets just kept on falling for him.

England’s reset began in chaos

This was supposed to be the start of England’s post-Ashes recalibration. A shift toward clarity, discipline, and smarter decision-making. Instead, it was a reminder that Test cricket rarely follows the script.

The pitch misbehaved. The ball swung, seamed, and spat. Also, in the middle of it all, Robinson rediscovered the version of himself England have been desperate to see again. The drama of England at Lord’s never seems to disappoint.

With New Zealand 79 runs behind and only four wickets in hand, day two promises more drama. The pitch won’t get easier. The bowlers won’t get kinder. England, for all their batting issues, have the momentum.

This Test already feels like a scrap. It is messy, unpredictable, and utterly compelling. If Robinson’s opening salvo is anything to go by, England’s summer might just have found its spark.

Featured image courtesy of David Rogers / Getty Images

By Faz Ali

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A mammoth 25-mile Palestine march is set to take place on Saturday June 6, despite disgraceful attempts by pro-genocide loyalists to stop it. The March for Gaza in the north of Ireland will run from Lurgan to Omeath, just over the border, covering a distance mirroring the length of Gaza itself. Zionist terrorists have dropped the equivalent of more than six atomic bombs on the tiny area since beginning their holocaust in October 2023.

Organisers, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign Lurgan (IPSC Lurgan) say the march will:

…raise money for medical supplies, temporary shelters and much needed food and water for the people living amidst the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza presently.

Sadly, loyalists supportive of so-called ‘Israel’ have been attempting to block this noble effort. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLAs asked the Parades Commission to stop the march. The Parades Commission rules on the contentious issue of parades and protests in the Six Counties. Parades with sectarian elements, particularly those around the July 12, have often involved large scale disorder.

A march for “people of conscience”

The DUP falsely claimed that the march’s route was:

…deliberately chosen to provoke tensions within a quiet rural community which neither supports nor welcomes it.

In fact, the exact opposite is the case. As IPSC Lurgan explained in their application to the Parades Commission:

We have taken much care and deliberation with the route, trying to avoid any areas which would not like to have a procession passing through them. As such we are mostly travelling by country roads until we reach the Newry Canal towpath.

The main controversy revolves around the village of Scarva, populated mainly by people from a Protestant/unionist/loyalist (PUL) background. The default assumption is they identify more with ‘Israel’, whereas those from a Catholic/nationalist/republican (CNR) tradition are generally pro-Palestine.

However, the distinction is not always clearcut, and many from PUL communities have been appalled by the Zionist entity’s litany of war crimes. Retired Presbyterian minister Mark Gray has described the march as:

…an opportunity for people of conscience to have a say, and to express solidarity with Palestine.

There was minor unrest in Scarva the same march last year, when the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) made four arrests. A BBC report published at the time suggested these were from the unlawful pro-genocide counter-protest, who jeered the march while holding the flag of the apartheid Zionist settler-colony.

The outrage around the march is thus largely confected. Participants won’t even pass through the town itself, but will instead march along the Newry canal towpath that runs adjacent to Scarva. This didn’t stop cynical DUP efforts to characterise the march as a “deliberately provocative parade” and an “overtly political demonstration”, rather than the humanitarian cause that it clearly is.

Attempted counter-march fails

Their efforts have led to the Parades Commission imposing certain restrictions on participants. These include ruling that:

…no participant in the parade shall enter Scarva…

The Commission also ordered that:

While the parade passes along the part of the notified route along the Newry Canal Towpath at Scarva, no flags or emblems of any type shall be displayed and no chanting or singing shall take place.

Other local groups have tried to interfere with the march. A group called Scarva Concerned Residents have requested permission to stage a counter-protest in the town from 10:00 to 17:00. The Commission has granted this, and imposed typical conditions such as forbidding alcohol consumption and “paramilitary-style clothing.”

More alarmingly, the loyalist Markethill Volunteers Flute Band attempted to stage a transparent attempt to block the March for Gaza. They requested permission to walk down the same narrow route, at the same time, in the opposite direction.

The group, which has never submitted a Parades Commission application previously, comically suggested their event was “organised in good faith”, and that the “sole purpose” was “charitable and community-focused”. The Parades Commission ultimately ruled that they would have to start their march from Scarva to Portadown at 14:30. That is, after the March for Gaza passed Scarva.

Betraying their real motives, the band railed against what it called a “Republican appeasement process“. They will now join the Scarva Concerned Residents instead. They are calling for “thousands on the streets” to counter what they incorrectly describe as a “Republican / Palestine march through [the] village”.

In reality, the pro-Palestine contingent is likely to vastly outnumber those who sadly have a worldview so narrow, they put petty sectarian concerns over recognising the horror of a genocide that has now lasted almost three years.

Featured image via Charles McQuillan / Getty images

By Robert Freeman

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British legacy media insist on platforming ex-military ‘experts’ without mentioning their war industry side-hustles — an issue the Canary has pointed out repeatedly. A deep-dive investigation has now revealed just how widespread the issue really is.

In April 2026, the Canary reported that former Labour MP and ex-NATO chief Lord Robertson was platformed to talk about war spending without his long-standing links to the military industry being disclosed. You can read about here and here.

NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) on 3 June that an analysis of media reports between 2015 and May 2026:

NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reported on 3 June that an analysis of British media coverage between 2015 and May 2026 reveals:

a repeated pattern where almost 60% of former key military personnel with links to the defence industry were found to have been – at least once – cited in the British media primarily by a reference to their rank and previous service, without audiences being informed of their current post-service defence advisory roles, consultancies, directorships, or financial interests.

Action on Armed Violence added:

So, while post-service commercial work is common, we documented a systemic failure of the UK media to disclose such employment and to highlight potential conflicts of interest.

The NGO examined media coverage of 33 former senior military figures who had subsequently taken up roles with defence, security, technology, and intelligence companies.

Of these, we found that 19 or 58% of these had been given a media platform to debate defence matters – at least on one occasion – without the media outlets involved identified noting their commercial or financial interests in the defence industry.

Instead of informing the public about the individual’s links to war firms:

commentators were identified solely by their former military rank or previous command positions. This, we contend, creates the impression of impartial and independent expertise.

Misleading the public

Simply put, legacy media outlets are misleading the public knowingly or otherwise. Any guest booker or producer worth their salt routinely checks for and disclose potential conflicts of interest.

AOAV said:

In the UK, the public’s understanding of matters of war, national security, and defence policy is almost entirely shaped by media commentary from figures presented as authoritative military experts.

Adding:

The go-to for most reporters is retired senior officers and former commanders, who are routinely quoted in print, broadcast, and digital media to explain unfolding conflicts, defence budgets, military power and, of course, to offer their opinion.

Senior ex-military officer’s views, AOAV said, “carry substantial weight:”

largely because of their professional reputation, long service, and the perceived impartiality of military expertise which – especially in the UK – is largely seen to be apolitical.

This is the assumed position of most public servants and such assumption of impartiality implicitly reaches across into their post-service opinion.

A 2024 Parliamentary report also found:

A 2024 quantitative investigation of the robustness of international trends concluded that trust in ‘representative institutions,’ such as governments, parliaments and political parties has been declining.

However:

trust in ‘implementing institutions’ such as courts, police and militaries has remained stable.

The reasons for this can be debated, but AOAV’s study suggests that the public may be being taken for a ride on the basis of lingering trust in the military institution. Military and intelligence officials are rarely neutral or apolitical actors. Retired officers-turned-media talking heads with well-paid war industry jobs never are. And no media outlet should deprive audiences of such a critical detail.

Featured image via Matt Cardy / Getty Images

By Joe Glenton

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Brian Armstrong on Dimon, Trump, and crypto’s future

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Democrats are at each other’s throats about Graham Platner after his latest scandal. They don’t know what to do about it.

The New York Times released a report Thursday with disturbing accounts from several of Platner’s ex-girlfriends, just days before he is set to win the Democratic nomination to face GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, a critical Senate battleground. One woman described Platner grabbing her in ways that left marks and once locking her in a room. She also claimed he knew that his tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol when he got it — something he has repeatedly denied.

The report — on the heels of last week’s news that Platner had sexted other women while married — left Democrats torn. Some view Platner, whose campaign has persisted despite a series of scandals, as their only chance to take down Collins. He continuously led Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in primary polling before she suspended her campaign in April, and has led the Republican senator in public head-to-head polls.

“Several donors I know are still all-in for Platner because he’s not Susan Collins and he’s a Democrat,” said Alex Hoffman, a Democratic strategist and donor adviser. “The line that keeps being thrown around is the double standard that exists between Republicans and Democrats, where if this was a Republican, they’d all be getting behind him.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is scheduled to campaign with Platner on Friday, reiterated his support. And some Democrats online were quick to castthe ex-girlfriend of Platner who spoke on record to The Times, Lyndsey Fifield, as a partisan activist because she has worked in Republican politics.

Still, others warned that he’s a loose cannon and there’s no predicting what other information about his past will spill into public view. What has already come to light, they argued, might already be enough to sink his candidacy, not to mention undermine the party’s core values.

“Democrats in Maine and throughout the country have got to decide what is their priority: Justifying Graham Platner’s behavior or winning the Democratic seat in Maine,” said Robert Zimmerman, a New York-based Democratic National Committee member. “It’s very clear that Platner has not been able to credibly justify his conduct and Democrats who defend him sound like Republicans defending Donald Trump after the Access Hollywood tape.”

Winning Maine is all but a necessity for Democrats’ chances of taking back the Senate this fall. Collins is the only Republican senator up for reelection this year in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024. If Democrats can’t knock her off, they’d have to win a far redder state, such as Iowa or Texas, to get control of the upper chamber.

Platner, on MSNOW on Thursday just hours after The Times published its story, denied the allegations of violence and said they were coming from someone who’s “politically motivated.” He said he has “not once” considered dropping out of the race.

“My journey is one of transformation. And I’m very happy to talk about that earlier part in my life. And I have no doubt that people will attempt to continue to revisit Reddit posts, continue to try to revisit parts of my past,” Platner said, referring to his previously unearthed offensive posts. “But I think what’s really important to note here is that these are things that I talk about in my past — things that I am not proud of — but it is a past that I had to go through to get where I am today.”

Platner said he did not have any communication Thursday with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee about exiting the race and making way for another candidate. And he said “I expect that we will not” because of the “outpouring of support” he has received.

However, some donors — even those who had previously opened their checkbooks for Platner — are starting to grow skittish.

“He’s now below the bar for my client group,” said one national donor adviser, who is telling their clients to send their money to other battleground Senate races instead.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had recruited Mills to run, was silent when asked several questions about the Platner revelations in the Capitol halls by reporters Thursday.

“There is dramatically higher concern about losing Maine now across the caucus than there was before the stories broke,” said one senior Democratic Senate aide who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Everyone realizes that without Maine the path to taking back the Senate is impossible.”

The aide added: “Everyone is apoplectic.”

But there was also frustration among some Democratic donors and operatives Thursday that the party was again cannibalizing one of its own, further jeopardizing its chances in what was already an uphill battle against a longtime GOP incumbent.

A Democratic consultant close to many of the party’s biggest donors said the sentiment among them has been that they don’t care about Platner’s scandals. Citing a conversation with a major donor who sits on the finance committee of one of the Democratic Party’s main national campaign arms, the consultant said he does not think that sentiment will change after the Times story.

“We don’t care. I think that’s the case for many donors. Anybody who beats Susan Collins will do,” said the consultant. The consultant attributed the indifference to the fact that it’s the “Trump era,” when allegations of wrongdoing simply don’t weigh as heavily as they once used to.

Platner is set to rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Friday with Khanna, who has endorsed him, and alongside Maine 2nd District candidate Matt Dunlap and gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson. Representatives for all three said the event was still set to go.

“The behavior described in the New York Times story was wrong and toxic. Graham has acknowledged that and sought redemption,” Khanna said in a statement Thursday. “The people of Maine deserve a senator who is going to stand up to the billionaire class, against genocide, and for the working class.”

Platner is all but certain to win Maine’s Democratic primary on Tuesday over Mills and 2024 Democratic Senate candidate David Costello. After that, Maine law allows the state party to replace Platner with another Democrat if he stepped down before mid-July. Such a move would be unprecedented in the state’s politics.

The Times report follows revelations last weekend that Platner had exchanged sexual messages with women other than his wife after they were married — which had already reignited Democratic fears that he could tank hard in November.

Platner, a political newcomer, has been dogged by scandals since the fall, when his Reddit history revealed a series of offensive posts suggesting, among other things, that victims of sexual assault should take more responsibility and that white rural Americans are stupid. Platner apologized for the posts, saying he was in a dark place at the time, and owned up to having a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol, though he said he didn’t realize the meaning at the time he got it and later had it covered.

The Times report reignited the controversy over Platner’s tattoo: Fifield told the paper he had referred to it as “my Totenkopf” while they were dating and knew about its Nazi connection.

“This is the most important seat for the next Democratic president to have a trifecta to act and accomplish all the things that all the people in the Democratic Party believe in — health care, child care, climate,” said Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel. “And now we’re in a position where someone with a Nazi tattoo, inappropriate relationships with women, and racist Reddit posts is our person. And people need to answer for that.”

Cheyenne Hunt, the leader of the group Gen Z For Change, who had organized against former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) over allegations of sexual assault, rescinded her endorsement of Platner on Thursday.

“We have the responsibility to do what is right even when it’s politically inconvenient,” she said in a video posted on social media. “Women cannot be an acceptable sacrifice for the next election.”

William Steakin, Andrew Howard, Shia Kapos, Chris Sommerfeldt and Calen Razor contributed to this report.

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Count Binface is among the candidates for the Makerfield by-election. So voters will have at least one coherent manifesto to ponder.

UK politics has a long and rich tradition of electoral candidates who apparently exist in a different universe from everyone else. It’s how we ended up with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as successive PMs.

But aside from the utter deadbeats standing for allegedly serious parties, there’s the novelty candidate. The Official Monster Raving Loony Party pretty much wrote the book on this sort of thing. And its leader, Alan ‘Howlin’ Laud Hope, will be lining up alongside 13 others of varying seriousness in Makerfield.

There’s a perception that the Loonies are no more than the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party of Blackadder the Third fame. However, the party has a decent track record of seeing manifesto policies become reality.

Crucially, the Loonies’ precursor, the National Teenage Party, ran on a platform of reducing the voting age from 21 to 18.

Count Binface is a worthy torchbearer for such political satire in the 21st century. A Jägerbomb to the Loonies’ real ale, if you will. So it’s worth checking his manifesto to see the actual good stuff in amongst the frivolities. I mean, sorting out footy corners is surely pie-in-the-sky.

It’s fair to say Andy Burnham might not be a fan of point 10.

The Count Binface manifesto — Makerfield Great Again

1. I will cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s.
2. All 99 Flake ice-creams to cost no more than 99p and Wigan Kebabs to be price-capped at £2.
3. Rephase the traffic lights on Liverpool Road to ease congestion.
4. Corners to be refereed properly in football.
5. People who use speakerphones on public transport to be conscripted.
6. Wifi on trains that works. Also trains that work.
7. The £6.6m Ashton-in-Makerfield regeneration scheme to be regenerated.
8. Pensions to be double-locked, with an extra little chain on the side.
9. Cyclists who break the highway code to be forced to ride unicycles instead.
10. Elected mayors to be ineligible for parliament until after their term of office.
11. Free parking at the Gerard Centre to be increased to 3 hours.
12. Auto-renew on all online subscriptions to be abolished immediately.
13. HS2 to be renamed FFS1 and rerouted so it ploughs through rail execs’ homes.
14. Galloway Bakers’ ‘Full Monty Bin Lid’ breakfast to be Britain’s new national dish.
15. Tries in Rugby League to be increased from 4 to 5 points in line with inflation.
16. Ceefax to be brought back for the entire Greater Manchester area.
17. MPs to lose their subsidy for cheap food and drink in parliament.
18. The hand-dryer in the gents’ toilet at the Crown & Treaty pub, Uxbridge to be moved to a more sensible position.
19. Count Binface to be the UK’s entrant at Eurovision 2027.
20. I stand by my past manifestos: croissants, Brexit, Trident, building at least one affordable house: I’ve got it all covered.

Featured image via the Canary (Binface by Leon Neal / Getty Images, Burnham by Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

By John Ranson

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Shadow Equalities Minister Claire Coutinho has suggested that we need to be “clear-eyed” when considering the issue of Black maternal deaths. Apparently, ‘the left’ (and also, you know, the NHS) are too quick to blame racism for the fact that Black people are three times more likely to die during childbirth.

We’re having this whole ridiculous ‘debate’ again because, over the last week, Reform leader Nigel Farage has redoubled his attacks on DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives. Those of us who don’t receive our talking points directly from Trump’s fascist America may know these better as EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion).

Obediently, swathes of the mainstream media have begun to platform ‘debates’ on EDI. Or, you know, just jumped straight to saying that the police force have been ideologically captured by the idea of not being racist. No, seriously.

 Maybe society isn’t equal?…

In today’s case in point, Claire Coutinho appeared on Sky News with interviewer Sophie Ridge. The two had a friendly chat about whether Black people disproportionately dying during childbirth is actually racism, really, if you think about it.

Ridge kicked off by making an obvious point — sadly necessary when arguing with a Tory. She stated that we have equalities guidance in the first place:

because at the minute we don’t have a society where people of every race are treated equally? […]

Black women are more likely to die during childbirth than white women, because they’re not being listened to. So, is there a balance here to be struck, if we really are trying to get to the place where everyone is treated equally?

Coutinho, at first, ignored the issue of deaths in childbirth. Instead, she turned to the education system, and immediately displayed her fundamental misunderstanding of the issue:

Well look, Kemi Badenoch did this work in government. She looked at racial disparities where things are going wrong, and the problem that you’ve got is that the left want to say is that all of the reason those things are going wrong is because of racism. That is not the case.

Take the education system. You have a system where Black African children are doing well, and Black Caribbean children are not doing so well, but the left wants to say the problem is racist teachers.

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That statement — that the left wants to blame racist teachers — is meant to conjure up a very specific image. It suggests a teacher stood at the head of a class, being unambiguously cruel to black kids, whilst treating white children like angels. The watcher is meant to think ‘but my teachers never did that’, and then dismiss ‘the left’.

(Let’s ignore for a moment that some of them did do that, and we didn’t pay attention because we were eleven at the time).

However, that bigotry isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of systematic, institutionalised discrimination. It’s a gross simplification of a vast, complex, deep-rooted problem. What’s more, it’s that systematic discrimination that equality initiatives are meant to target.

Coutinho — ‘Look at the evidence’?

Ridge moved on to ask:

If you look at the NHS and the way that Black women are however many times more likely to die during childbirth. That can’t be right, can it?

In a recent study, campaign group MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK) found that Black people are three times more likely than white people to die during childbirth or shortly thereafter.

In reply to Ridge’s question, Coutinho said:

No of course not, but then you should go and look at the evidence. Every single time there is a serious death in the NHS, when it comes to maternity, you should look at the evidence. Is it because a Black woman was not listened to? Is it because there was some other health factor happening that we need to go and change?

What you need to do is root out the ideology that says that everything is racism – actually it might be other things, it might be that you’re more susceptible to some other form of heart disease or whatever it might be that’s causing harm.

The problem here is that we have already listened to the evidence. We’ve done so many times, ad nauseam, but racism is deeply entrenched in our system. Change, where it does happen, is slow, and hampered at every step by people looking desperately for any explanation other than racism.

‘Not anecdote but evidence’

As an example, we can look to campaign group Five X More’s 2025 Black Maternity Experiences survey. It reported that almost one in four Black people were denied pain relief during labour. Likewise, almost half of them received no explanation.

As the Canary’s Vannessa Viljoen wrote at the time:

This was not anecdote but evidence — data from more than a thousand women across the country.

Coutinho’s call to “look at the evidence” “every single time” someone dies during childbirth might seem sensible. However, at its worst, a focus on individual cases seeks to blame individuals suffering discrimination for their problems.

Even at its best, a relentless focus on individual cases also works to obscure the bigger picture. More specifically, it works to obscure systematic inequalities.

It’s easy to dismiss one Black woman being denied pain relief during labour. Maybe the doctor just made a mistake. Maybe she didn’t seem to be in much pain. However, if the doctors ‘just make a mistake’ far more often in relation to Black people’s pain, it’s evidence of a systematic issue.

Coutinho — ‘Evidence-based and clear-eyed’

Coutinho concluded by arguing that:

The problem is that people are no longer able to be evidence-based and clear-eyed about this. And I’m afraid the dominant ideology, the real problematic ideology that we have, is that the root cause of all of these differences is racism. That is not the case.

Well that’s just fab, isn’t it. Except, just yesterday, we saw a perfect example of how being evidence-based and clear-eyed isn’t enough for the right.

You see, Black people are twice as likely to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis compared to white people. However, the NHS isn’t blaming racism for that fact.

Rather, there’s an androgen receptor protein which is strongly involved in the growth and spread of prostate cancer. That protein has a far higher prevalence in Black people.

However, when a prostate cancer screening study worked to target the Black community because of that fact, Reform’s Zia Yusuf stated kicking off about it being racist towards white people, and evidence of a two-tier system.

It’s a common refrain of the right that ‘facts don’t care about your feelings’. However, if the right were as cold and logical as they want to believe, they wouldn’t be getting het up about targeted prostate cancer studies.

And, more to the point, we wouldn’t be having this ridiculous debate about institutional racism in healthcare yet again. Sure, the idea of institutional racism might hurt their feelings. However, it was, is, and will continue to be a fact for all the time we waste running yet another study to check it hasn’t gone away on its own.

Featured image via Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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